“For more than 30 years, ZF has worked closely with Bill Barry-Cotter. So, when Maritimo was founded 21 years ago, ZF was there working with the then engineering team, from day one,” said ZF’s Gary Bain, who has been instrumental in the connection for 30 years of that incredible timeline.
“There have been lots of relationships over the years with different people. Mikael Olin is our key account manager for Maritimo, who has just celebrated 10 years with ZF, working with the team at Coomera for all of that time. He’s based in Brisbane, so nice and close, and very much on top of the production side of things.”
Bain’s words pretty much encapsulate the close and direct involvement in creating the very much renowned luxury motor yachts for global consumption. As a recognised worldwide brand themselves, ZF’s support for customers far and wide adds another level of peace of mind to the equation.
In the last 10 years, there has been a lot of product development both at Maritimo and with partners like ZF, as well. Olin reflected on this by saying, “I’d say probably the most influence I have had directly with Maritimo is with our electronic controls. This complements both the engine selection and the transmission. This definitely includes the transition into introducing Supershift to part of the range of gearboxes up to about the 1500 horsepower mark.”
“I’m down there very often, and they still prefer me to do all the setups of the controls for them.”
Bain added, “Technology moves along fairly quickly. We’ve now got the joystick operation and position holding features DP0 level, if that’s an option that they’ve taken with the vessel and there are more development products coming as ZF moves along to suit the market needs of the pleasure craft range.”
It is true that overall, the boats are bigger, heavier, and more voluminous than earlier craft, which means the gearboxes are doing more with larger diesels, as well as the hydraulic thrusters that receive power from the PTOs on the gearboxes themselves. The requirements of a particular buyer and boat are integral to the equipment going in to achieve the desired overall performance outcome. Ensuring this is part of the work that ZF does, and is appreciated by Maritimo.
“We have a really good package for Maritimo with engine, transmission, hydraulics, and thrusters. Depending on the level of controls specified, we know which thruster partner will be used. Our CAN bus connectivity delivers full integration with one connection. To help make it both easy and accurate for Maritimo, we have developed kit numbers tailor-made for them, that means the products delivered match the requirement. Kit Two does this, Kit Four does that, and Kit Seven works with those engines, this pair of our transmissions, and those thrusters with this level of control specified, and even incorporates the number of joysticks to be had on board. Kind of the best in ‘plug’n’play’, we believe,” said Olin.
“We spent quite a bit of time developing all the system drawings and the layout of the schematic. Then we pulled it right back to making one kit suit three models of hull based on varied harness lengths. Then when the order comes through, I know what that boat’s going to look like with respect to stations and locations and that sort of thing.”
Clearly ZF are engine agnostic, as it were, but some scenarios require the very best from ZF, not only for the incredible amounts of torque the transmissions must convert to spinning the screws, but also the throttle profiles. “What we’re offering for Maritimo’s flagships (M75 and S75) really is a premium product. I think the other critical thing is that we work closely with all of the engine manufacturers, to make sure that the interfacing is correct.”
ZF manufactures all around the globe, so it is the role of the team here in Oceania to make sure it all comes together as requested. Hold-ups with critical components slow the progress of boats moving from Fit Out One to Fit Out Two, and ultimately it is the customer who bears the brunt of this, which is why relationships with teams all over the globe help not only supply, but also after-sales support. Bain was very clear about this. “It’s not as though they’re simply a name on an email. We know them personally. So, when there is a requirement, we mutually get the support from other parts of the world.”
As for their own brand power? “ZF stands behind the OEM. When I first started, we had an advertisement for the automotive passenger car market, that had all the badges of the marquee cars we supplied transmission and other components, too. People thought we made badges. Some people say when buying a new vessel, ‘What’s a ZF?’ Generally, we’ve got to sort of give them the idea of the pedigree behind the brand. It all started with Zeppelin airships and goes on from there in a variety of market segments, which is phenomenally wide.”
“However, the simplest thing is to say, ‘What car do you drive?’ They say, ‘I drive an XYZ.’ Well, it’s probably got something that’s that ZF in it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s power steering, an axle, differential, the transmission, or even the seatbelts.”
Olin added, “In more recent times, people are knowing what they’re ordering in the marine space. Quality is definitely a big part of the overall equation. Being a company headquartered in Germany just adds to that.”
By way of underscoring this, consider that ZF has 2,500 people in R&D alone across its many spheres of operation and locations. “It’s the paperwork that allows you to be engine agnostic, because you can connect with all these different people, you’ve got all the systems already in place, and so it doesn’t matter what brand is supplying power, we know what we’re doing, here are the leads, and here is the componentry. This is probably best described as comfort for the owner – peace of mind below the waterline,” said Bain.
“There will be some new things we’ll bring up with Maritimo soon. We know from history that we have to have everything already in place before we do. This includes design, training, tooling, installation, workshop manuals, the lot. It makes it better for everyone. Where required, one of us will go to the factory, or if there are multiple people to learn the technology, we’ll get someone down here.”
“Having people understand and then use any functionality is of critical importance. Mikael has even done one-on-ones with customers, to make sure they are happy with their selections,” said Bain.
Integration with an engine manufacturer is one thing, then there is sharing information back to them, like error codes and so forth, to say nothing about integration with electronics suppliers. As everything advances, this is especially important and complex. Naturally, this work is ongoing and benefits all users in the end.
Ultimately, one statement comes to mind. In ZF, you have the right gear for the prescribed job. Big and meaty when it needs to be, but always capable and compatible with the task at hand, and delivering the goods, time and time again.
